CLASS OF 1850

William Alexander Read died at his home in New Bedford, Mass., February 10. The last survivor of the five children of Dr. Alexander (Dartmouth 1808) and Sarah (Willis) Read he was born March 4, 1828, in the Read homestead on the corner of Purchase and Union streets, New Bedford, now a principal business site of the city. He was prepared for college in private schools and at Phillips Andover Academy, after which he made a trip to Europe before entering College. The death of his father in 1849 was a loss which affected all his later life. The Union Street house was sold, and another was built on land belonging to Mr. Read's mother, where he lived until his death. His mother had inherited a large property, and lived with her son until her death at an advanced age. Never taking up any profession or business, he gave his life to the development of the estate. For more than thirty years he led the quiet, retired life of a cultivated man, with his books and his pets. His hobby was the raising of gold and. silver pheasants, in which he was very successful, and he left a collection of some of the finest ever raised in the United States. After the death of his sister, at the age of eighty, he lived alone, cared for by faithful servants. For some years he had suffered much from a painful nervous trouble, and rarely left his home except oh business or for a short call at his club. Mr. Read never married, and left his large property to cousins, his nearest relatives.